Robert Rey, born Robert Victor Charles Maurice Herfray (24 January 1888,

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

- 22 December 1964, Paris) was a French

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and critic.

Biography

His father, Victor (1853-1935), was a colonial administrator. During his childhood and youth, Robert lived in

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, Senegal, and French Guiana. He was a graduate of the École du Louvre. In 1911, after working as a secretary for

Georges Courteline Georges Courteline born Georges Victor Marcel Moinaux (25 June 1858 – 25 June 1929) was a French dramatist and novelist, a satirist notable for his sharp wit and cynical humor. Biography His family moved from Tours in Indre-et-Loire to Pari ...

, he was chosen to be Secretary of the Musée de Cluny. Three years later, even though he had completed his military service, he joined his father on the front lines, as an artillery gunner, and came back with two merit citations. After the war, he was appointed Secretary of his alma mater, and held that position until 1925, when he was named Assistant Curator at the Musée du Luxembourg. He would, however, continue at the École as a teacher for another twenty-one years. Later that same year, he was named a Knight in the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

.Documentation
@ the Base Léonore In 1930, he became Conservator for the museum at the Château de Fontainebleau. Another appointment came in 1936, when he was named "Inspecteur Général des Beaux-Arts. In 1940, the Vichy government relieved him of his administrative duties, and he became a conservator at the Louvre, where he was placed in charge of reorganizing the provincial museums. His frequent travels enabled him to transmit information to the

Resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

. After the war, he was presented with the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

, and was named Director of the visual arts division at the General Directorate of Arts and Letters. From 1949, when he retired, until 1960, he occupied the chair of art history at the École des Beaux-Arts. Shortly before his death, he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, taking Seat #1 in the "Unattached" section.

References

Biography and references
@ AGORHA, Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art *

André Arbus André Arbus (1903-1969) was a French furniture designer, sculptor and architect. He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, and one of his buildings is listed as an official historical monument. He was the recipient of the silver medal a ...

, ''Notice sur la vie et les travaux de Robert Rey (1888-1964)'' (obituary), Firmin-Didot, Paris, 1965.

External links

Robert Rey and his father, Victor (1914)
@ the Legion of Honor website * "Robert Rey (1888-1964)", Resources of the

Bibliothèque Nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rey, Robert 1888 births 1964 deaths French art historians French art critics French curators Recipients of the Legion of Honour Members of the Académie des beaux-arts People from Oran French people of colonial Algeria French people in French Senegal